HELSINKI, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish government said on Friday it granted three million euros (3.6 million U.S. dollars) to the main Finnish commercial television company, MTV for maintaining its continued television news service.

The company asked for public assistance as it said maintaining the service on a commercial basis was challenging. The company in recent years reduced its news staff and outsourced production.

MTV news is currently the only fully fledged competitor to national broadcaster, Yle in the sector of traditional on-air television bulletins.

In a statement on Friday, the government said MTV must ensure its visibility in all Finland.

The basis of the government decision was to ensure that several news operations are viable.

The government decision was based on the requirement that there are at least three news bulletins per day and 18 hours broadcasting news per week.

The MTV, abbreviation from Mainos Televisio, is currently owned by the Swedish Bonnier Group.